Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Michele Bachmann's Missing Mediation Business

Did Michele Bachmann Mediation LLC ever exist?

By Karl Bremer

Since Michele Bachmann announced her candidacy for president, national and international media have been rummaging through the Dumpster of her life for whatever details about her past they can uncover among the refuse. Much of what is known about her professional and political career has become a staple of her biography: Graduated from Anoka High School in 1974, graduated from Winona State University in 1978, graduated from Oral Roberts University in 1986, got a tax law degree in 1988 from William and Mary School of Law, worked for the IRS from 1988-1993, got elected to the Minnesota State Senate in 2000, and elected to Congress in 2006.

But those seven years between the IRS and State Senate seem to be missing a few pages—particularly anything about "Michele Bachmann Mediation LLC," a business that even Bachmann is uncharacteristically silent on.

You won’t find anything on Bachmann’s official Congressional website about Michele Bachmann Mediation LLC. Nor will you find anything in her bio on her presidential campaign website. Nothing in her Wikipedia entry either. But the alleged business did exist—at least on paper—and was registered with the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office from October 2000 to 2003. The business is now listed as “inactive.”

A business listing for Michele Bachmann Mediation LLC on manta.com describes it as a “Communication Services, NEC” company with an SIC code of 4899. Dun & Bradstreet also listed Michele Bachmann Mediation LLC under “communication services.” Other companies similarly listed with the SEC include satellite and wireless telecommunications companies, not mediation services. Estimated annual revenue of the LLC, according to the manta.com listing, was $67,000. Bachmann’s old home address in Stillwater is listed as the business address.

Bachmann sponsored an “Adopt-a-Highway” stretch of Stonebridge Trail in Washington County under the auspices of “Michele Bachmann Mediation LLC” from 1995 until October 2001, when she requested that Washington County change the name of her Adopt-a-Highway signs to “State Senator Michele Bachmann.” (The signs later had to be changed again to read simply “Michele Bachmann” when it was discovered that the use of her political title was not allowed under county rules.) She used her home address on her Adopt-a-Highway application as well, according to the Washington County Transportation Department.

Bachmann’s political websites simply gloss over the missing seven years between the IRS and the State Senate.

“Prior to serving in the U.S. Congress, Michele was elected to the Minnesota State Senate in 2000 where she championed the Taxpayers Bill of Rights. Before that, she spent five years as a federal tax litigation attorney, working on hundreds of civil and criminal cases,” her campaign website states.

“Prior to serving in the U.S. Congress, Bachmann served in the Minnesota State Senate from 2000-2006. As a Minnesota State Senator, she championed the Taxpayers Bill of Rights. Before holding elected office, Bachmann worked on hundreds of civil and criminal cases as a federal tax litigation attorney,” her congressional website states.

Bachmann never fails to mention her and her husband’s Christian counseling clinic wherever she goes. And she's bragged about virtually every other job she claims she's held, from bus driver to fish cleaner. Yet she’s never spoken publicly about her alleged mediation business.

Despite the avalanche of news stories about Bachmann in recent months, including a 9,000-word opus in the New Yorker magazine, you won’t find a word about Michele Bachmann Mediation LLC in any of them.

There’s nothing in public court records to be found about Michele Bachmann Mediation LLC either, and nothing turns up in searches anywhere else. So what gives?

Did Michele Bachmann ever actually do any mediation, and if so, for whom? Was it just a scam to claim a home-office deduction on her taxes without ever actually doing any business? It is known that the Bachmanns spent part of those years protesting at abortion clinics. Perhaps she called that activity “mediation” much like other such protestors call it “sidewalk counseling.”

Bachmann has already tried to claim her family’s pray-away-the-gay clinic is off-limits to reporters (unless she brings it up). Maybe she’d rather answer some questions about her other alleged business instead. If, in fact, it ever existed at all.

20 comments:

I am not a Bachmann supporter or hater, but there is nothing here worth reporting on or blogging about or whatever it is you do. So she registered a business for 2 years - so what? And the "missing years" seem not to exactly be some watergate event. Was she a stay at home mom? Was she ice fishing? Was she stitting on a couch watching soap operas? Who cares, what does it matter and why would a grown man waste 13 paragraphs and 1000 words on this? If you were as concerned about the missing history of say our sitting President, you might actualy have something worth reading.

I don't know, FG, I think a seven year blank spot in the life of a presidential candidate where a business has been registered but never mentioned again is something to wonder about. Many candidates run on their business successes. Shouldn't we know about business failures?

$67,000 in revenue reported and conflicting listings of the type of business should raise red flags at least with the IRS! You do that FG and I guarantee they would be all over you wanting some facts. I sense you are a Bachmann fan if you think nothing stinks about this!

Hardly a non-story, as the first commenter claims, this should definitely be investigated further. If the Bachmanns have been overly creative with tax deductions, this is a serious offense to taxpayers - not to mention a crime.

Furthermore, for someone who called for an "investigation of every member of Congress" to think she can say what is and isn't off limits is ludicrous. We can not allow mainstream media to let her get away with that.

A candidate for the highest office in the land should be above reproach and as clean as the board of health. Period. Anyone who has a problem with that should examine their own background for lapses in judgment.

For anyone who has been paying attention Michelle Bachmann is shocking ignorant of middle school history and geography, a colossal fraud, serial liar, and shameless hypocrite. It is obvious she will say anything to pander to her "tea party" nut wing base. If she or Perry get elected I'll gladly move to Panama.

I think this is interesting, particularly as from time to time Bachmann or someone acting for her apparently has deleted all mention of her time as a litigating attorney as well from sites like wikipedia and her congressional bio. It seems to be a claim that made her uncomfortable.

I'm guessing her claims of having worked on hundreds of cases for the IRS will turn out to be like her 'raising' 23 children, for only a week or two.

That litigating attorney stuff is information that comes and goes.

I'd also love to see someone press Marcus Bachmann for more details about his supposed PhD in Clinical Psychology from the dubious academic entity that didn't offer such a degree. I hope whoever asks, if they can get an answer, will also find out how much clinical time he spent at the school, or was it entirely a correspondence degree.

I wonder if that $67,000 attributed to Bachmann's mediation business was real money or funny, made up money intended to make her look more successful? And was it reported to the IRS? Because I'm unwilling to take things at face value from the can't-tell-the-truth-Bachmanns.

I found this post when I was looking for tax advantages, etc. Michelle Bachmann made off her foster children. If I understood what she just said, she "infiltrated" the IRS to see what the enemy was up to. Sounds to me like she and her husband set out, like a lot of astute rich people do, to play the system for all its worth. What better ways to do it than to become a tax attorney. If it weren't for the likes of Warren Buffet, I'd have a real hard time with the "rich" people.

Anyone know who cooked, cleaned and cared for those 23 foster children as well as her own children? Apparently, we now have a "supermom" like nothing we have seen before.Didn't the Wm and Mary credentials turn out to be a weekend semeniar?Ya just gotta be impressed by oppurtunistic drilling away of tax money into their pockets makes you tempted bo try this brand of Christianity,

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Ripple in Stillwater

Ripple in Stillwater is the sole creation of Stillwater, Minnesota, writer Karl Bremer. It covers whatever captures the author's muse at the moment. You can reach Ripple in Stillwater at saintcroix-at-aol-dot-com, or you can follow me on Twitter @kdbremer. If you're wondering about the name of this blog, go here.

Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists 2011 Page One Award Winner

Ripple in Stillwater author Karl Bremer won Second Place in the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists 2011 Page One Awards for "Best Use of Public Records."

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